Acting Through Song: Techniques and Exercises for Musical-Theatre Actors - Softcover

Paul Harvard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1848422296 ISBN 13: 9781848422292

Publisher: Nick Hern Books, 2013

Synopsis

'Musical theatre has the potential to be extraordinary. As a genre, it brims with possibility. Often dismissed as a frivolous style of entertainment, the musical can actually be the most powerful and affecting of theatrical forms.'

So begins Paul Harvard's impassioned and invaluable guide for actors and students of musical theatre. But he quickly diagnoses a problem with much of the acting he sees in drama schools, where he teaches, and on the professional stage, where he has worked. Self-consciousness creeps in, singing and dancing take precedence, so that when performers open their mouths to sing, the acting stops.

Acting Through Song directly addresses this challenge. Harvard takes the techniques of modern actor training including the theories of Stanislavsky, Brecht, Meisner and Laban, amongst others and applies them to the fundamental component of musical theatre: singing.

With dozens of exercises to put these theories into practice, and numerous examples from a broad range of musicals, the result is a comprehensive and rigorous acting course for those training in musical theatre or already performing, whether amateur or professional, to realise their potential and act better.

About this title

Review:

The most methodical, thorough and practical book on the subject that I've ever read. --Daniel Evans

If you want to maximise your potential in our tough profession, this is not just a must-read, it's your bible. --Stuart Barr. Musical Director & Singing Coach

Full of good, practical advice... often revelatory... Deals clearly with issues that will concern or confuse actors in training... An important addition to the actors' library. --reviewsgate.com

About the Author:

Paul Harvard has worked as an actor, musical director and composer at the National Theatre, in the West End, and in regional theatre. He was Head of Musical Theatre at the Urdang Academy, and currently teaches at Arts Educational Schools, the Drama Centre, Rose Bruford College, City Lit and The Centre.

About this edition

• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1848422296
• ISBN 13: 9781848422292
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256